Astrologically, this stage has been set by the previous sign of Cancer, the Nurturer, and the phase of intense inner work on emotions and feelings and establishment of correct mood and surroundings. The Mother gives birth to the Child. Inner exploration gives way to outward expression. The phase of extremely heightened sensitivity is left behind.

And as the summer blossoms fully, the inner story of the womb experience is revealed. The Performer steps onto the world’s stage. The Lion stands majestic. Heads turn.

The story of the inner voyage pours forth, scantily clothed in metaphor and simile. We completely understand Leo’s inner hungers through the outrageous banquet laid before us; its inner feelings, blatantly revealed in song, dance or story. We can’t look away. These are our experiences too, our hungers too. The audience riots with applause, a standing ovation…

Or if the Performer fails to please us… Leo gets rotten tomatoes… Or worst of all, in the screaming din of multi-media, no one even notices…

Statistics show that most people are less afraid of dying than they are of standing up and speaking in public. It’s risky business. Add playing a difficult instrument or acting a lead role, and the risk level sky-rockets. Is it any wonder that you meet many a shy Leo, some of them frozen in permanent stage fright mode.

WHAT IS LEO’S AIM?

I once went to help a friend when her baby was born. We couldn’t help but share our awe at what we were experiencing. My friend had been brought up Roman Catholic. She recounted how a nun had once told her that when you look into a newborn’s face, you look into the face of God (or Goddess).

In the same manner that royalty holds a sceptre, Leo holds the space for us to see divinity. I think that this is Leo’s joy—and purpose.

The Inner Child, is one of the archetypes of this sign. As is the Monarch or the Performer. This is the Golden Girl/Boy. The One Who Shines!!!

BUT DOESN’T EVERYONE SEEK JOY IN LIFE?

Of course we all seek joy in life. And of course, Leo is one part of everyone’s chart. But certain people are characterized by Leo’s traits more strongly than others.

Think for a moment, of the Sun, Leo’s associated luminary. It’s tremendous gravitational field curves the planets into their orbits and gives coherence to the Solar System.

And it radiates the life giving force of sunshine. When we wake up to a new day, no matter how dark or frightening the night has been, we usually feel hope and gratitude that there’s a new beginning.

VITALITY! PRESENCE! These are Leo’s qualities.

If we reach a point that we can’t feel this anymore, if we pass our days mechanically, in boredom and routine, we know that there is a serious problem. People can’t live without joy and hope. As would life on Earth without Sun, they die. If not literally, physically, then metaphorically for sure.

A HEALTHY SENSE OF IDENTITY

We come from formlessness into form. Of course the Sun is just one among zillions of stars in the Multiverse. Even the Sun is just a mere speck compared to the vastness of it all. Ego, taken on its own is a mere joke—and not an entertaining one!

But to navigate the world of form, we need an ego, a centre. Leo needs to gloriously, unselfconsciously, exuberantly occupy some space at the centre of at least somebody’s attention.

Monarchs—and tyrants—are famous for displaying the worst of ego. But the point here, really, is for Leo to become the Queen or King of her/his own life. Not to dominate but to model that for others.All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women, merely players.- Wm. Shakespeare

So bring on the banquet with wine a-plenty. Sit back for a good story or five. And then let’s dance the night away! Let’s drink life to the fullest! Are you with me?

My rule of life is to drink and be merry,To be free from belief and unbelief is my religion:I asked the Bride of Destiny her bride-price,“Your joyous heart,” she said.– The Rubaiyat of Omar KhayyamTranslation by Peter Avery and John Heath-Stubbs

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LARK was born and grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa and came to Canada at the age of eighteen to study at the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design. A lifetime traveler, and a singer-song writer, she has lived on four continents and in nine countries including the USA, the Czech Republic and China. It has given her many opportunities to pursue her passion—studying people.

Western Astrology came into her life in 1973 through a group of friends running a natural foods restaurant. Her first reaction was, “You’ve gotta be kidding!” But since she was already naturally curious about people’s personalities, it didn’t take long for her to become intrigued with the subject.